Clear diction, articulation and a good sound are very important when singing as the audience must be able to hear what you are singing about. Beautiful sound is created on the vowel and clear text is aided by use of consonants.
Consonants need to be short, crisp, clear and concise as they contain no inherent pitch but are crucial to the clarity of the text. Never hold the sound on a consonant, if the last word to be sung in a phrase is on a long note, hold the vowel and as the MD brings you off the note quickly put in the consonant. The purpose of a consonant is to add clarity to text and to lead to the vowel. Vowels must be round, full and long. If you are singing a diphthong or triphthong you hold the sound on the first vowel and quickly move through the 2nd/3rd vowels.
When a word finishes with a ’t’ that ’t’ must be audible but not as if spat out. Be careful if you have a word that finishes with a ’t’ or ‘d’ and the next word also starts with a ’t’or ‘d’. Make sure both are clearly pronounced and do not run into each other.
When singing in Italian there are many double consonants – these must be sung with a slight pause, called a glottal stop, after the first one. Both must be clearly enunciated as if not a completely different word could be sung.
Make sure all consonants are forward – on the tip of your tongue, if you allow them to drop back as if swallowing them then that will not make the word clear.
Consonants come before the beat and the vowel is on the beat.
If a word begins with a vowel make sure there is a slight pause before singing it. If a word ends on a vowel and the next starts on a vowel make sure they are both clearly sung.
The tongue and the lips articulate both the vowels and consonants and must be agile and quick.
Tongue twisters are a great exercise for clarity of consonants and vowels. Say each tongue twister at least 5 times accurately and at the same tempo. Use a metronome if you want to be precise and work on increasing your tempo. My favourite one is red lorry, yellow lorry. Remember to also roll your r’s when practising this one.
Exercise
Whenever you are speaking be aware of how you are projecting your consonants and vowels.
